A Brief History On June 27, 1981, the Chinese Communist Party issued its report on the “Cultural Revolution” that took place in China from 1966 until the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. A program designed to “purge” China from political dissidents and traces of capitalism, the Cultural Revolution cost between 400,000 and 7.7 million Chinese lives, depending on the source. Digging Deeper Mao had fought the National Chinese under Chiang Kai Shek since before World War II until he took control in 1949, establishing Communist China and assuming the mantel of a dictator. Mao followed the usual dictator script,…
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A Brief History On June 19, 2005, the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, Indiana, suffered a mass exodus when 14 cars running on Michelin tires withdrew from the race due to tire failures by the French tire giant. Only six cars remained to race on Bridgestone tires. Digging Deeper Michelin and Bridgestone combine with Goodyear to make up more than half of all tire sales in the world each year. Each tire company pours millions of dollars into research to make their tires with the best wet and dry traction, best heat resistance, best gas mileage, least noise, longest…
A Brief History On June 16, 2019, over 2 million people in Hong Kong protested the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, an extradition law enacted by the Chinese communist government of Hong Kong as well as alleged police brutality. The protests had started over a variety of reasons months earlier and continued until disrupted by the pandemic of 2020. Digging Deeper Ever since Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control in 1997, protests have been a frequent event on that fabled island and its associated territory. Some other massive protests vying for the “largest” in history include: The Baltic Way human chain across…
A Brief History On June 15, 2022, Microsoft retired its iconic internet browser, Internet Explorer, in favor of its new system, Microsoft Edge. Browsing the internet has become a fact of daily life for almost everyone old enough to read and write, providing entertainment, information, trivia, communications, news, and what that odd looking bird you saw in your yard is. Digging Deeper While Microsoft is a giant in the computer industry, the most widely used browser is Google Chrome. Other innovations and features that make internet browsing rewarding include: Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia free to use and of incredible diversity…
A Brief History On June 13, 2018, Volkswagen was fined a whopping billion Euros by the EU in conjunction with an emissions tricking scheme hatched by VW to beat clean air requirements in Europe and the US. Digging Deeper The VW scandal, using special computer programs to falsify emissions testing of their turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines, is not unique among car companies’ efforts to bamboozle governments and consumers. Further investigation showed that other car companies had also cheated on diesel engine emissions, including Jeep, Hyundai, Citroen, Fiat, Renault, and Fiat. Another extreme scandal, this time of a deadly…
